Budget Readers Service Will Try to Defraud You Washington, Pennsylvania

Budget Readers Service contacted me by phone. The sales person said that they had obtained my contact info from my bank and that because of my good credit rating they wanted to offer me a weekly magazine subscription with 4 monthly magazine subscriptions for free. I opted to subscribe to "The Economist," a fairy expensive weekly magazine. Before I began receiving the subscription, I called Budget Readers Service back and requested to cancel my account as I was planning to move out of the country. I was told by a very rude salesperson that my account would not be canceled because "that's our policy." I was in complete disbelief. Instead of continuing to be billed for a service that I did not want and had attempted to cancel, I instead called my bank and canceled my credit card. Budget Readers Service then sent me paper bills, which I refused to pay.

In the ensuing months I NEVER received the weekly "Economist" magazine. I did, however, receive random mailings of magazines that I had not requested.

Recently, I received a letter from Silverman Law Firm with offices in Colorado and Wyoming, stating that they represented Budget Readers Service and that I owed in the amount of $998. I was absolutely stunned. Not only had I never received the title that I actually ordered, I was told that I couldn't cancel and then was told via this law firm that I owed almost $1000. (How anyone can charge $1000 for a magazine subscription is a mystery to me.)

I called the law firm, as requested in their letter, and again was treated very rudely by their representative. I was told that I could settle the debt for $600. I was incredulous. The person went on to say that since I had entered into a verbal contract, I was bound by it and since I "refused to pay [my] bills" the matter would be handled on an "involuntary" basis. When I asked for clarification I was told that I should hire my own attorney so that he or she could explain it to me.

The bottom line is that Budget Readers Service uses shady business practices (i.e. not allowing customers to cancel their subscriptions) and attempts to defraud customers (i.e. charging customers when no service or product has been received).